As mobile phones and other user terminals become more smart, and the mobile Internet is manifesting a growth, an operator needs to provide a more optimized network, and network optimization is mainly embodied in aspects such as on-demand provision of bandwidths, assurance of quality of service and service experience improvement. To use network resources more efficiently, improve service experience of a user and gain more profits, the operator needs to use an EtoE QoS (End to End Quality of Service) control solution to further optimize the network resources, and utilize the network resources more efficiently. However, the EtoE QoS control solution requires that EtoE QoS control between network elements can be performed only when EtoE QoS control capabilities of involved network elements match each other. For example, when a user equipment performs a data transmission service, a capability of an RAN (Radio Access Network) needs to match a capability of a GGSN (Gateway General Packet Radio Service Support Node) or a PGW (Packet Data Network Gateway), otherwise, EtoE QoS control between the RAN and the GGSN cannot be performed. Therefore, before EtoE QoS control is deployed, EtoE QoS control capability negotiation needs to be performed first.
In the prior art, when an address of a peer network element is configured on a local network element during initialization of a communications system, it is considered by default that the peer network element has a capability of deploying EtoE QoS control; the capability negotiation between the local network element and the peer network element is static inter-device negotiation, and not a dynamic capability negotiation of EtoE QoS control, and exhibits low flexibility in capability negotiation.